As can be expected whenever an album is moved to a non-Tuesday release, 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) is already experiencing major street-date violations.
The album, initially planned for March 8 but pushed ahead to tomorrow (March 3), hit many stores today. While sporadic reports of street-date violations began Tuesday afternoon, the “to hell with street date” frenzy kicked into high gear this afternoon, with most U.S. stores selling the album by 3 p.m. ET, sources say.
Meanwhile, despite the controversy swirling around 50 Cent due to Monday’s shooting during his Hot 97 radio appearance in New York, the artist went ahead with a retail event today near Boston.
At the Universal Music & Video Distribution office in Wellesley, Mass., 50 Cent “gave his all” for nearly two hours for a luncheon with retailers, playing tracks from the album and talking for nearly five minutes about each track, reports Carl Mello, buyer at Newbury Comics. “He was tremendously attentive, charming and showing that he is really going all out to work this album,” Mello says.
